Cream Puff Murder (Hannah Swensen, #11)(28)

Chapter Nine




“I can’t believe Ronni was so awful!” Lisa just shook her head after Hannah told her what had happened at Heavenly Bodies. “I always knew she didn’t care that much for other people’s feelings, but I thought she was just self-centered. Now I’m changing my mind. I think she might actually enjoy hurting other people.”

“That was my impression. She looked really pleased when Vonnie got tears in her eyes.”

“And Vonnie’s so sweet. How can they keep Ronni on as a fitness instructor if she treats all her classes like that?”

“She doesn’t, at least that’s what Andrea told me. She said that Ronni’s entirely different when she teaches a men’s class. Then she compliments them on how well they’re doing, and encourages them to do more. The guys all think she’s great.”

“That figures.” Lisa got up to bus their coffee cups, but she turned back for one more comment. “I’m glad Herb doesn’t have a membership out there. I trust him completely, but I’d still wonder if the BowFlex machine was the main attraction.”

Hannah laughed. Marriage had been good for Lisa. Before she’d teamed up with Herb, Lisa had been shy, easily embarrassed, and a very private person. Now that she was happily married, she was much more open about her feelings, and she’d gained enough self-confidence to say what she thought. She still blushed at the drop of a hat, but Hannah found that trait endearing.

“I almost forgot,” Hannah said, gesturing to the box she’d placed on the kitchen counter. “I found Lisa Colleene’s recipe for Mini Cheeseburger Cookies. Norman and I made some last night. They’re in that box if you want to take a look.”

Lisa hurried over to the box and lifted the lid. She stared down in silence for a moment, and when she turned back to Hannah, there was a huge smile on her face. “They’re just darling!” she said.

“I think so too. That’s why I saved the photo and the recipe.”

“I can try one, can’t I?”

“Of course. They’re just two different kinds of store-bought cookies held in place with buttercream frosting.”

Lisa popped a cookie into her mouth and chewed. Then she nodded and swallowed. “You’re right. It’s not the taste that’s so special. It’s the fact they look like cheeseburgers. The kids at the party will just love these, but I think we’ll have to double Mrs. Janowski’s order. They’re pretty small.”

“Good idea,” Hannah said, and then she started to frown. “Don’t double the price again, though.”

Lisa laughed. “I won’t. But I might just have to point out what wonderful value she’s getting for her money.”



Hannah studied the recipe Lisa had found for Emmy Herman’s cream puffs. It seemed to be simple enough, and she wondered why she’d never tried to make cream puffs before. There were only five ingredients in the puff part, and she had plenty of water, butter, salt, flour, and eggs.

It didn’t take long to mix up the first batch. Hannah spooned them onto parchment paper, the way it said to do in the recipe, and popped them into a four-hundred-degree oven. In less time than it took her to refill the display cookie jars they kept behind the counter in the coffee shop, her first-ever batch of cream puffs was ready to come out of the oven.

They were golden brown, puffed up high, and beautiful. Hannah went off to call Lisa to take a look. Several people stopped her to chat, and at least ten minutes passed before she switched aprons with Lisa and sent her partner off to the kitchen to take a look.

Lisa was back almost immediately, but she didn’t look happy. She was shaking her head slightly as she approached the counter to take back her apron.

“What’s wrong?” Hannah asked her.

“I’m not sure, but I think you’d better go look for yourself. Maybe Mom left something out of the recipe.”

When Hannah pushed through the swinging door to the kitchen, she saw why Lisa had looked unhappy. The cream puffs weren’t puffed any longer. They’d collapsed and now they resembled…she didn’t really want to think about what they resembled, but she’d stepped over a few the last time she’d walked through a cow pasture.

When something didn’t work, she wanted to know why. Hannah broke one puff open and stared at the wet strands of dough inside. Steam was the culprit and she knew what to do about that. It was the final step in Bernadette’s Popover recipe. She should have released the steam by poking the puffs with the tip of a sharp knife right after she’d taken them out of the oven.

While she was at it, there was another change she could make in Lisa’s mother’s recipe. Hannah picked up a pen and wrote in an additional ingredient. She’d add a little safeguard to help with the rising and stabilize the puffs. Baking powder should do it.

Tasting was next. Hannah broke off a little piece of puff and sampled it. She could taste the egg, and the dough was slightly salty, but that was about it. Perhaps real cream puff aficionados wanted a perfectly bland puff to show off their fillings, but Hannah didn’t see why the outside shouldn’t taste as good as the inside. A little sweetness would help, and there was no sugar in Emmy Herman’s recipe.

Since she didn’t think it would disturb the balance of wet and dry to add a bit of sugar, Hannah wrote in a second ingredient, a tablespoon of white granulated sugar. She was about to add some cinnamon or nutmeg, but she reconsidered. The puffs would have various flavors of fillings. Not all of those fillings would be enhanced by her choice of spices.